Pennsylvania state representatives have different reactions to lottery contract

By
Carl Rotenberg, The Times Herald

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett’s decision to award a 20-year contract to U.K.-based Camelot Global Services to run the Pennsylvania Lottery inspired different reactions from two state legislators this week.

Corbett announced the decision late Friday afternoon, and a legislative finance committee hearing on the proposal was marked by sharp questions from Democrats and more muted questions from Republicans.

“The important thing to remember is that the lottery is great. It has provided a ton of programs for the aged that we all like. They are all popular programs,” said state Rep. Kate Harper, R-61st Dist. “We need to keep them funded because Pennsylvania has one of the largest senior populations in the country, only second to Florida. We need to have more money to serve those programs.”

Harper said she had asked the Legislature’s staff attorneys if it was legal for Corbett to award the contract without getting legislative approval.

“The conclusion was that the way the law was written, it was broad enough to allow Corbett to act,” Harper said. “The lawyers are saying it is broad enough for the governor to do this on his own.”

Should the operation of the Pennsylvania Lottery be privatized?

“I think it is privatized already. We hire outside agencies to advertise the lottery,” Harper said. “Most of the day-to-day selling of the lottery are entrepreneurs, convenience stores and gas stations. We already have private entrepreneurs in the system.”

Harper pointed out that the lottery, after Camelot takes over, would still be overseen by state officials.

“I don’t have any problem with the lottery. It does fund a very good program,” Harper said. “The question is can we keep the lottery solvent but have it meet the greater demands of the senior program that it funds. My constituents are concerned about that.”

The union representing most of the lottery workers, AFSCME Council 13, has filed lawsuits challenging the contract award in an apparent effort to protect the state jobs.

“I don’t believe you run the government for the benefit of the state workers,” Harper said. “The Corbett administration believes we will get better value for the program. More revenue is best.”

State Rep. Tim Briggs, D-149th Dist., said the bid process and the awarding of the lottery contract were “rushed.”

“There should have been more review and due diligence. There should have been more oversight put into the bid process,” Briggs said. “They were the only ones that responded to the RFP (request for proposal). There should have been other companies with bids.”

Briggs pointed out that Corbett had used the time while the legislature was out of session to move forward with the contract award.

“It seemed like they were trying to award them the contract before people focused their attention on it,” he said. “Outsourcing is a recurring theme with Gov. Corbett. Things that are working well, he is trying to sell them off.”

Briggs questioned whether the private British company could generate the increased revenue promised by their RFP.

“I’m not sure if the aging programs will get the same amount of monetary support. It supports senior centers, food programs and prescription programs,” he said. “There could be a negative affect to those programs and I would not support that.”

Briggs said that Democratic legislators were studying the issue to decide if hiring an outside company to run the lottery was the best decision for the lottery.

“There is a strong effort to slow it down and give one year to study this,” he said. “Just to turn it over to Camelot is hugely concerning to me. I don’t know why there was a rushed process.

“My constituents are pretty fired up by this. I’ve gotten 40 or so emails in the last week. They are against the privatization.”